Perry firefighters remove a student from a car involved in a mock crash during a program in May at Perry High School, The student was critically injured in the scenario and had to be transported to a trauma center by medical helicopter.

Teen drivers are still one of the state's most at-risk groups for crashes, but young drivers in the area may be understanding the importance of being safe behind the wheel.

From 2009 through 2011 in Ohio, teen drivers were at fault in 114,737 crashes, resulting in 329 deaths. Furthermore, teens were at fault in 10 percent of all fatal crashes, according to the Ohio Highway Patrol.

But in Lake and Geauga counties, crashes involving teen drivers decreased greatly over the past year.

In 2010 from Jan. 1 to Dec. 4, teen drivers were in 1,498 crashes, responsible for 1,046 of the incidents. In 2011 over the same time span, teens were in 1,538 crashes, responsible for 1,082 of the incidents. This year the number of crashes fell to 946, with teens responsible for 656, according to statistics from the Ohio Department of Public Safety.

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One crash resulted in a death in both 2010 in 2012. The year with the most crashes, 2011, had no deadly incidents involving teen drivers.

Lt. Mark Neff, commander of Chardon Post of the Ohio Highway Patrol, said speed is the most common factor in teen driver crashes, causing 56 percent of crashes.

Lt. Carl Dondorfer with the Lake County Sheriff's Office said teen drivers also lack the driving experience to correctly judge safe distances and speed.

Distractions, including cell phones and other passengers, are also prevalent in teen crashes.

"No one else is in control of the vehicle except for the person behind the wheel," Neff said.

That message is the main focus of the "You are in Control" program, which began in August.

The OHP provided fliers, banners and other information to each high school in the area that promotes safe driving and the importance of sound decision making, Neff said.

Education is half of law enforcement's approach to increasing teen driver safety.

"If you get to these drivers at a young age, you can instill good driving habits for life," Neff said.

Dondorfer said education is the best way to increase teen driver safety.

"There's been a big increase in education over the past years, especially around prom season," Dondorfer said.

The other half of teen driver safety comes from enforcing the laws.

"For some kids, getting a citation is the only way to modify behavior," said Neff.

In an effort to help limit distractions for drivers, Ohio lawmakers in June approved a statewide ban on texting while driving. While the law applies to all drivers, the restrictions and punishment on teens is more severe than for other drivers.

Drivers under the age of 18 cannot use an electronic device in any fashion while driving, except for hands-free navigation devices and emergency situations.

For juveniles the crime is also a primary offense, meaning police can pull the driver over solely for texting while driving.

Law enforcement officials can still only give warnings for the crime, but can start handing out punishment on Jan. 31, six months after the law went into effect.

Dondorfer said texting while driving is just as big an issue as drinking and driving. But with the law in its infancy and police unable to issue penalties for the crime, it is still unknown exactly how much safer the legislation will make the roads.

"I'm optimistic that it's going to help prevent a lot of crashes," Dondorfer said.